His first film as a director was Kootathil Oruthan.
TJ Gnanavel has been roped in to direct the 170th film of superstar Rajinikanth, which is tentatively titled Thalaivar 170.
Film director TJ Gnanavel has now become a popular filmmaker in the Tamil film industry. He rose to prominence after directing the 2021 hit film Jai Bhim, which starred Suriya in the lead role. His first film as a director was Kootathil Oruthan, and he was the writer as well as the director of the project. According to reports, before working as a director on films, Gnanavel worked as a journalist.
Recently, Gnanavel shared his experience of meeting the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, M Karunanidhi. M Karunanidhi was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu five times between 1969 and 2011. He also made some major contributions to Tamil literature.
Gnanavel shared a Facebook post on the 100th birthday of the late politician and described his experience of meeting him. He said that he had asked his daughter, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, for the time of the interview. Gnanavel added that when he met him and told him that he was a student of Tamil literature as well, he showed more love and affection towards him. He further added that he even smiled when Gnanavel told him that he had read his books as well.
He added when he started asking him more questions about contemporary politics, he answered them tactfully and gave a clear explanation. He said that there were some questions in which he even used sarcasm to answer them. The Jai Bhim director wrote that, although he was prepared, he was a bit nervous before the start of the interview. But once the questions started, he felt like a journalist asking questions to the inevitable leader of Tamil history. He added that he realised at that moment that this feeling of standing next to the greatest leader of the century would last a lifetime.
On the work front, TJ Gnanavel has been roped in to direct the 170th film of superstar Rajinikanth, which is tentatively titled Thalaivar 170. According to the makers, the film will hit theatres in 2024.